5 Essential Habits For A Better Sleep Routine
I think we know now that sleep should be an essential part of our wellness routine. But understandably, it is hard for many to prioritize or understand ways to encourage adequate sleep and perhaps understand some of the habits that we have that disrupt it.
I know that when I was working in hotels both in operations and human resources, I was accustomed to staying up late, watching TV or movies, working on my computer, etc. not knowing the impact it was having on my health.
It wasn’t until I was faced with severe burnout and fatigue, a rise in anxiety, and even unexplained weight fluctuations, that I realized my sleep habits were impacting my overall health.
Before we get into my 5 essential sleep habits, let’s first talk about the effects of poor sleep.
Studies have shown that sleeping less than 7 hours per night may have wide-ranging effects on the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems, including the following:
Obesity in adults and children
Diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance
Cardiovascular disease and hypertension
Anxiety symptoms
Depressed mood
Poor cognitive function and focus
Think about it: when you’re tired, you likely don’t crave salads and “healthy-type” foods, do we? More than likely, we’re craving sugary-type foods and caffeine to help us feel alert and awake. So you can see how there’s a connection between sleep and some of our sleep habits.
Here are 5 tips on how to build an essential sleep routine:
Getting in natural light
While this might sound unusual considering the tips that I provide you below, getting in full spectrum, natural light in the morning, can actually set us up for an epic sleep. Natural light helps our bodies to sync with our circadian rhythm which is the body’s natural sleep and awake response. Daylight helps our body to produce cortisol (our stress response hormone) during the earlier parts of the day and melatonin (our sleep hormone) during the later parts of the day
Easy tip: The best way to do this is avoiding the use of sunglasses first thing in the morning and aiming to get in a day time walk.
Avoid snacking at night
This is a much overlooked sleep tip. While our bodies do complete many processes while we are sleeping, when we start late night snacking, we start to trigger digestive activity which takes BIG energy. The body then has to ramp up to start to break down what you have just eaten. Depending on what you snacked on, it is very possible to get a surge of energy because of the insulin response to food. This is also disruptive to the circadian rhythm where we should “eat by day, sleep at night”.
Easy tip: Attempt to get 2-3 hours between your last meal of the day and sleep.
Reduce blue light
The key to better sleep is producing adequate melatonin levels, our sleep hormone. However, melatonin is disrupted by the blue light from TV, computer and phones. I know, major bummer for all OF us that enjoy the deep hole of Instagram and TikTok late at night!
Easy tip: Switch off all devices at least one hour before bed and turn to journaling or a novel instead.
Is It Dark In There?
In order for your brain to shut down and to start the process of “going to sleep”, you need a dark space as light can be jolting to our neurosystem making it harder to fall asleep. Additionally, dark light helps to produce melatonin that essential sleep hormone I spoke about earlier
Easy tip: Reduce or dim all lights in your home after dinner and wear a sleep mask to block any light.
Create Your Zen Routine
I love this tip which for me has become an instinctive, daily routine and my health has thanked me for it. If you are living a higher-stress lifestyle or you find yourself zapped and low energy, it is critical that you learn to calm the sympathetic nervous system which dictates our “fight or flight response”. In order to do that, the body and mind needs to feel safe and calm and the best way to evoke that atmosphere is creating a zen routine curated just for you.
Easy tip: start your routine 1-2 hours before you sleep. Personalize it just for you. For example, bath, diffusing essential oils, reading a book, journaling, meditation or visualization etc.
Now, over to you: Pick 1-3 easy tips that you can apply to your lifestyle and build from there. The best way to improve your health and your sleep is with small, mindful movements.
About Julie Pecarski
Julie Pecarski is the Director of Education for WORTH Association and is the Human Resources Manager at the Westin Bayshore Hotel, Vancouver. Julie is also a registered holistic nutritionist where she offers weight loss and burnout recovery support for women.
Her program reBalance By Julie helps high-performing women break free from restrictive diets, restore their metabolism and build a body that they love. And, her burnout-recovery program, The Energy Code is a 7-week collaboration lifestyle and nutrition mastermind for ambitious career women ready to crack the energy code and achieve their goals with flo(w). Learn more about Julie and her programs on Instagram @BalanceByJulie